U.S. patent application number 12/266747 was filed with the patent office on 2009-06-25 for image forming apparatus and image forming method.
This patent application is currently assigned to Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.. Invention is credited to Seung-wook HONG, Seok-won JUNG.
Application Number | 20090161151 12/266747 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40788244 |
Filed Date | 2009-06-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090161151 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
HONG; Seung-wook ; et
al. |
June 25, 2009 |
IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING METHOD
Abstract
An image forming apparatus and method of printing an image in
the image forming apparatus connected to an image storage device,
the method including: selecting at least one image stored in the
image storage device; setting up print options with regard to the
selected at least one image; starting a transmission of image data
corresponding to the selected at least one image from the image
storage device to the image forming apparatus before the setting up
of the print options is completed; and printing the image data
according to the setup print options.
Inventors: |
HONG; Seung-wook;
(Hwaseong-si, KR) ; JUNG; Seok-won; (Seoul,
KR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
STEIN MCEWEN, LLP
1400 EYE STREET, NW, SUITE 300
WASHINGTON
DC
20005
US
|
Assignee: |
Samsung Electronics Co.,
Ltd.
Suwon-si
KR
|
Family ID: |
40788244 |
Appl. No.: |
12/266747 |
Filed: |
November 7, 2008 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
358/1.15 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 3/1254 20130101;
H04N 2201/0049 20130101; H04N 2201/0058 20130101; G06F 3/1288
20130101; H04N 1/2307 20130101; G06F 3/1205 20130101; H04N
2201/0055 20130101; H04N 2201/0036 20130101; H04N 2201/0041
20130101; H04N 1/00204 20130101; H04N 1/00307 20130101; G06F 3/1215
20130101; H04N 2201/0084 20130101; H04N 1/2338 20130101; H04N
1/00278 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
358/1.15 |
International
Class: |
G06F 3/12 20060101
G06F003/12 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 20, 2007 |
KR |
2007-134593 |
Claims
1. An image forming method to print an image by an image forming
apparatus connected to an image storage device storing the image,
the method comprising: selecting at least one image stored in the
image storage device; setting up print options with regard to the
selected at least one image; starting a transmission of image data
corresponding to the selected at least one image from the image
storage device to the image forming apparatus before the setting up
of the print options is completed; and printing the image data
according to the setup print options.
2. The image forming method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
printing of the image data comprises printing the image data
directly from the image storage device without connecting to a host
system or another terminal.
3. The image forming method as claimed in claim 1, further
comprising notifying the image storage device of a print job status
for the image data.
4. The image forming method as claimed in claim 1, further
comprising displaying a print job status for the image data on the
image forming apparatus.
5. The image forming method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
printing of the image data comprises: pausing the transmission of
the image data when a user inputs a print start command during the
transmission of the image data; printing a transmitted portion of
the image data when the transmission of the image data is paused;
and continuing the transmission of the image data after the
printing of the transmitted portion is completed.
6. The image forming method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
printing of the image data comprises: pausing a transmission of the
image data when the setting up of the print options is completed;
printing a transmitted portion of the image data when the
transmission of the image data is paused; and continuing the
transmission of the image data after the printing of the
transmitted portion is completed.
7. The image forming method as claimed in claim 1, further
comprising asking a user whether to maintain a connection between
the image storage device and the image forming apparatus or to
disconnect the connection between the image storage device and the
image forming apparatus.
8. The image forming method as claimed in claim 7, further
comprising disconnecting the image storage device from the image
forming apparatus if the user selects to disconnect the connection
between the image storage device and the image forming
apparatus.
9. The image forming method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
selecting of the at least one image comprises checking what print
options are supported by the image forming apparatus from among
print options supported by the image storage device before the at
least one image is selected.
10. The image forming method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
image storage device transmits the image data to the image forming
apparatus through a PictBridge protocol.
11. The image forming method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
starting of the transmission of the image data comprises starting
the transmission of the image data immediately after the at least
one image is selected.
12. An image forming apparatus connected to an image storage
device, the image forming apparatus comprising: a communication
unit to receive image data for at least one image stored in the
image storage device and selected to be printed; an image forming
unit to print the received image data; and a controller to control
the communication unit to start to receive the image data
corresponding to the at least one image from the image storage
device before print options with regard to the at least one image
are completely setup, and to control the image forming unit to
print the received image data according to the setup print
options.
13. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein the
image forming unit prints the image data directly from the image
storage device without connecting to a host system or another
terminal.
14. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein the
controller notifies the image storage device of a print job status
for the image data through the communication unit.
15. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 12, the
controller displays a print job status for the image data on the
image forming apparatus.
16. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein the
controller controls the communication unit to pause a receiving of
the image data when a user inputs a print start command the image
data is being received, controls the image forming unit to print a
received portion of the image data when the receiving of the image
data is paused, and controls the communication unit to resume the
receiving of the image data after the image forming unit prints the
received portion of the image data.
17. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein the
controller asks a user whether to maintain a connection between the
image storage device and the image forming apparatus or to
disconnect the connection between the image storage device and the
image forming apparatus.
18. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 17, wherein the
controller disconnects the image storage device from the image
forming apparatus if the user selects to disconnect the connection
between the image storage device and the image forming
apparatus.
19. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein the
controller checks what print options are supported by the image
forming apparatus from among print options supported by the image
storage device before the at least one image is selected to be
printed.
20. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein the
communication unit receives the image data immediately after the at
least one image is selected to be printed.
21. An image forming system to print stored image data, the system
comprising: an image storage device to store the image data for at
least one image stored in the image storage device and selected to
be printed; and an image forming apparatus to connect to the image
storage device and to print the image data, the image forming
apparatus comprising: a communication unit to receive the image
data from the image storage device, an image forming unit to print
the received image data, and a controller to control the
communication unit to start to receive the image data from the
image storage device before print options with regard to the at
least one image are completely setup, and to control the image
forming unit to print the received image data according to the
setup print options.
22. The image forming system as claimed in claim 21, wherein the
image forming apparatus receives the image data from the image
storage device through a PictBridge protocol.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent
Application No. 2007-134593, filed Dec. 20, 2007, in the Korean
Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is
incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] Aspects of the present invention relate to an image forming
apparatus and an image forming method, and more particularly, to an
image forming apparatus and an image forming method that receive an
image from an image storing unit.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] Generally, an image forming apparatus forms an image based
on print data. In detail, the image forming apparatus forms the
image on a print medium according to a document file created
through an application program provided by a host system (such as a
personal computer) or according to image data generated by an image
storing unit (such as a digital still camera or the like).
[0006] Conventionally, when the data generated by the digital still
camera is transmitted to the host system, the host system processes
and converts the received data to a printable format and transmits
the converted data to the image forming apparatus, thereby allowing
the image forming apparatus to print the data. Recently, a photo
printer has been developed to directly receive and print the image
data from the digital still camera through a wired and/or a
wireless connection (such as a universal serial bus (USB),
Bluetooth, etc.) without depending on the host system. Moreover, an
image forming apparatus has been developed to directly connect to a
portable phone having an image-sensing function and to print the
image data generated by the portable phone.
[0007] Specifically, when a user selects an image to be printed in
the digital still camera, the image forming apparatus receives the
image data corresponding to the selected image from the digital
still camera, and processes the image data to thereby print the
image. If a user selects two or more images to be printed, the
image forming apparatus repeats the foregoing operations with
respect to each selected image.
[0008] A PictBridge protocol is an example of a standard protocol
for printing an image through such a connection between the digital
still camera and the image forming apparatus. Using the PictBridge
protocol, the image forming apparatus receives the image data from
the digital still camera and forms an image, as will be described
with reference to FIG. 1.
[0009] FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional image forming apparatus
that receives image data from a digital still camera and prints an
image corresponding to the image data. Referring to FIG. 1, when
the digital still camera and the image forming apparatus are
connected to each other, a digital photo solutions (DPS)_Discovery
initialization function is executed to check information about
whether the digital still camera and the image forming apparatus
support the PictBridge protocol, information about a product number
and a support function of the digital still camera, etc.
[0010] Then, a DPS_ConfigurePrintService function is executed to
allow the digital still camera to inform the image forming
apparatus that the digital still camera functions as a server while
storing the image data and functions as a client while printing the
image. On the other hand, the image forming apparatus functions as
a server while performing the printing, and functions as a client
while receiving the stored image data.
[0011] Then, a user selects an image to be printed from among the
stored images and sets up a printing option through a user
interface of the digital still camera. The printing options
supported by the image forming apparatus can be shown by executing
a DPS_GetCapability function. According to a user's input, a
DPS_StartJob function causes the digital still camera to transmit
to the image forming apparatus a print command along with
information such as the number of images to be printed, the number
of copies, a file name, and the printing option.
[0012] The image forming apparatus receives the print command from
the digital still camera and requests, from the digital still
camera, file information about the image to be printed
(DPS_StartJob). After receiving the file information (File info),
the image forming apparatus requests the image data (DPS_GetFile)
from the digital still camera. In response, the digital still
camera transmits the image data (Image File) to the image forming
apparatus, and the image forming apparatus stores the received
image data in a storage medium. Then, the image forming apparatus
converts the image data into a format suitable for printing, and
thereby prints the image. The image forming apparatus notifies the
digital still camera with a status of a print job for the current
image data (i.e., information about whether the printing is in
progress, the printing is completed, etc.) (DPS_NotifyDeviceStatus
and DPS_NotifyJobStatus).
[0013] However, conventionally, when a user selects an image to be
printed and sets up a print option corresponding to the selected
image in the digital still camera through the PictBridge protocol,
the image data is transmitted to the image forming apparatus after
both the image selection and the print option setup are completed.
As a result, transmission of the image data is delayed and time
taken in the printing is prolonged.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0014] Aspects of the present invention provide an image forming
apparatus and an image forming method, in which image data is
transmitted before print options of an image corresponding to the
image data are completely set up, thereby reducing a user's waiting
time for printing.
[0015] Aspects of the present invention also provide an image
forming apparatus and an image forming method, in which an image
storage device is notified of a print state of an image.
[0016] According to an aspect of the present invention, there is
provided an image forming method to print an image by an image
forming apparatus connected to an image storage device storing the
image, the method including: selecting at least one image stored in
the image storage device; setting up print options with regard to
the selected at least one image; starting a transmission of image
data corresponding to the selected at least one image from the
image storage device to the image forming apparatus before the
setting up of the print options is completed; and printing the
image data according to the setup print options.
[0017] The printing the image data may include printing the image
data directly from the image storage device without connecting to a
host system or another terminal.
[0018] The image forming method may further include notifying the
image storage device of a print job status for the image data.
[0019] The image forming method may further including displaying a
print job status for the image data on the image forming
apparatus.
[0020] When a user inputs a print start command during the
transmission of the image data, the transmission of the image data
may be paused, a received portion of the image data may be printed
while the transmission is paused, and the transmission may resume
after the received portion of the image data is printed.
[0021] The image forming method may further include asking a user
whether to maintain a connection between the image storage device
and the image forming apparatus or to disconnect the connection
between the image storage device and the image forming
apparatus.
[0022] The image forming method may further include disconnecting
the image storage device from the image forming apparatus if the
user selects to disconnect the connection between the image storage
device and the image forming apparatus.
[0023] The selecting of the at least one image may include checking
what print options are supported by the image forming apparatus
from among the print options supported by the image storage device
before the at least one image is selected.
[0024] According to another aspect of the present invention, there
is provided an image forming apparatus connected to an image
storage device, the image forming apparatus including: a
communication unit to receive image data for at least one image
stored in the image storage device and selected to be printed; an
image forming unit to print the received image data; a controller
to control the communication unit to start to receive the image
data corresponding to the at least one image from the image storage
device before print options with regard to the at least one image
are completely setup, and to control the image forming unit to
print the received image data according to the setup print
options.
[0025] The image forming unit may print the image data directly
from the image storage device without connecting to a host system
or another terminal.
[0026] The controller may notify the image storage device of a
print job status for the image data through the communication
unit.
[0027] The controller may display a print job status for the image
data on the image forming apparatus.
[0028] When a user inputs a print start command during the
reception of the image data, the controller may control the
communication unit to pause the reception of the image data,
control the image forming unit to print a received portion of the
image while the reception of the image data is paused, and control
the communication unit to resume the reception of the image data
after the received portion is printed.
[0029] The controller may ask a user whether to maintain a
connection between the image storage device and the image forming
apparatus or to disconnect the connection between the image storage
device and the image forming apparatus.
[0030] The controller may disconnect the connection between the
image storage device and the image forming apparatus if the user
selects the image storage device to be disconnected from the image
forming apparatus.
[0031] The controller may check what print options are supported by
the image forming apparatus from among the print options supported
by the image storage device before the at least one image is
selected.
[0032] According to another aspect of the present invention, there
is provided an image forming system to print stored image data, the
system including: an image storage device to store the image data
for at least one image stored in the image storage device and
selected to be printed; and an image forming apparatus to connect
to the image storage device and to print the image data, the image
forming apparatus including: a communication unit to receive the
image data from the image storage device, an image forming unit to
print the received image data, and a controller to control the
communication unit to start to receive the image data from the
image storage device before print options with regard to the at
least one image are completely setup, and to control the image
forming unit to print the received image data according to the
setup print options.
[0033] According to another aspect of the present invention, there
is provided an image forming apparatus connected to an image
storage device, the image forming apparatus including: a
communication unit to receive image data for at least one image
stored in the image storage device and selected to be printed; and
a controller to control the communication unit to start to receive
the image data corresponding to the at least one image from the
image storage device before print options with regard to the at
least one image are completely setup.
[0034] Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will
be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part,
will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice
of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0035] These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention
will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the
following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with
the accompanying drawings of which:
[0036] FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional image forming apparatus
that receives image data from a digital still camera and prints an
image corresponding to the image data;
[0037] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an image forming apparatus
according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0038] FIG. 3 illustrates operations of an image forming apparatus
according to an embodiment of the present invention; and
[0039] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an image forming method according
to an embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
[0040] Reference will now be made in detail to the present
embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are
illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference
numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are
described below in order to explain the present invention by
referring to the figures.
[0041] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an image forming apparatus 100
according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to
FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 100 includes a communication
unit 10, an image forming unit 20, a controller 30, and a storage
unit 40.
[0042] The communication unit 10 receives print data from an image
storage device 200 through a wired and/or a wireless connection.
For example, the communication unit 10 may employ a universal
serial bus (USB) connection, Bluetooth, etc., to receive the image
data. Additionally, the image forming apparatus 100 and the image
storage device 200 may connect by docking.
[0043] The image storage device 200 may be a mobile device (such as
a digital still camera, a portable phone, a digital camcorder, a
personal digital assistant (PDA), and a portable memory), a server,
a host system, etc. that can store image data. The digital still
camera will be described as the image storage device 200 by way of
example, though it is understood that aspects of the present
invention are not limited thereto.
[0044] According to an aspect of the present invention, the
communication unit 10 may use a PictBridge protocol to receive the
image data from the image storage device 200. The PictBridge
protocol allows the image forming apparatus 100 to directly print
an image from the digital still camera without connecting to a host
system, a terminal, or the like.
[0045] The image forming unit 20 forms an image based on the image
data. For example, the image forming unit 20 may include a
photosensitive body (not shown) to form an electrostatic latent
image thereon; a developing unit (not shown) to develop an image
with a developer on the photosensitive body; a transferring unit
(not shown) to transfer the developer corresponding to the image
from the photosensitive body on a print medium (such as paper, a
transparency, etc.).
[0046] Additionally, the image forming unit 20 may include a
renderer to perform data rendering to output the image onto the
print medium; and a parser to parse an image format file (such as
joint photographic experts group (JPEG), tagged image file format
(TIFF), etc.), a text format file, and/or a portable document
format (PDF) file.
[0047] The controller 30 controls the communication unit 10 to
receive a portion or an entirety of the image data corresponding to
a selected image from the image storage device 200 before a print
option of the selected image in the image storage device 200 is
completely setup (for example, immediately after the image is
selected), and controls the image forming unit 20 to print the
received image data on the basis of the setup print option. Here,
the print option may include a number of copies with respect to an
image, information regarding one or more margins of the image, a
number of images to be shown on one page, etc. Operations of the
controller will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.
3.
[0048] The storage unit 40 stores the image data received from the
image storage device 200. The storage unit 40 may include a
non-volatile memory (such as a flash memory, a hard disk drive,
etc.) or a volatile memory (such as a RAM)
[0049] FIG. 3 illustrates operations of an image forming apparatus
according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to
FIG. 3, to use the PictBridge protocol to print an image, the image
storage device 200 checks whether the image forming apparatus 100
connected to the image storage device 200 supports the PictBridge
protocol. This check may be performed by calling a digital photo
solutions (DPS)_Discovery function.
[0050] Then, a DPS_ConfigurePrintService function is executed to
inform the image forming apparatus 100 that the digital still
camera functions as a server while storing the image data, and
functions as a client while printing the image. On the other hand,
the image forming apparatus 100 functions as a server while
performing the printing, and functions as a client while receiving
the stored image data.
[0051] Then, the image storage device 200 requests information on a
supported print option from the image forming apparatus 100. At
this time, a user can check the print option supported by the image
forming apparatus 100 through a user interface (UI) of the image
storage device 200, which can be performed by executing a
DPS_GetCapability function.
[0052] Then, if a user selects an image to be printed, the image
storage device 200 calls a Start_ReceiveFile function and informs
the image forming apparatus 100 that a user has selected the image
to be printing. When the image forming apparatus 100 requests from
the image storage device 200 information about the image selected
by a user and the image data corresponding to the selected image
(DPS_GetFileInfo and DPS_GetFile), the image storage device 200
transmits the image data corresponding to the selected image to the
image forming apparatus 100. The image forming apparatus 100
receives the image data from the image storage device 200 and
stores the received image data in the storage unit 40.
[0053] When a user completes a print option selection and inputs a
print start command to the image storage device 200, the image
storage device 200 calls a DPS_StartJob function. At this time, the
image forming apparatus 100 already received at least a portion of
the image data corresponding to the selected image before the user
completed the print option selection, thereby reducing a user's
waiting time when printing the selected image.
[0054] If the user inputs the print start command to the image
forming apparatus 100 while the image storage device 200 is
transmitting the image data corresponding to the selected image to
the image forming apparatus 100, the image forming apparatus 100
may stop receiving the image data, print the already received image
data, and then resume a reception of the rest of the image data
corresponding to the one or more selected images.
[0055] While the printing is in progress, the image forming
apparatus 100 may notify the image storage device 200 of a status
of the image forming apparatus 100 and status of the print job, for
example, by executing DPS_NotifyDeviceStatus and
DPS_NotifyJobStatus functions, respectively. Here, the status of
the image forming apparatus 100 may include a toner state, a print
medium state, etc., and the status of the print job may include an
image data transmission state, a print option transmission state, a
state of progress of printing the received image data depending on
the print option, a print completion, an error message, etc.
Furthermore, the image forming apparatus 100 may include a user
interface (UI) generator (not shown) and a display unit (not shown)
so as to display such statuses. While in the present description,
the image is selected through the user interface (UI) of the image
forming apparatus 200, it is understood that aspects of the present
invention are not limited thereto. For example, the image may be
selected through a user interface (UI) provided on the image
forming apparatus 100.
[0056] In this case, the image forming apparatus 100 may ask a user
whether to maintain the connection between the image forming
apparatus 100 and the image storage device 200 or to disconnect the
image forming apparatus 100 from the image storage device 200. If a
user selects to disconnect, the image storage device 200 is
disconnected from the image forming apparatus 100.
[0057] According to aspects of the present invention, a user may
select one image and set up the print option corresponding to the
selected image, or select a plurality of images and collectively
set up the print option corresponding to the plurality of selected
images. In the latter case, the image data corresponding to the
plurality of images may be transmitted from the image storage
device 200 to the image forming apparatus 100 in sequence before
completing the print option setup for the plurality of images.
[0058] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an image forming method according
to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, at
least one image stored in the image storage device 200 is selected
at operation S10. Here, the selection of the image may be achieved
through the image forming apparatus 100 and/or the image storage
device 200. Before selecting the at least one image (operation
S10), a user may check the print options that are supported by the
image forming apparatus 100 among the print options supported by
the image storage device 200.
[0059] At operation S30, a user sets up the print option with
regard to the at least one selected image. Meanwhile, at operation
S20, the image data corresponding to the image selected at the
operation S10 is transmitted from the image storage device 200 to
the image forming apparatus 100 before the user begins to set up
the print option or before the user finishes setting up the print
option. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce a user's waiting time
for the printing.
[0060] Meanwhile, if a user gives a print start command to the
image forming apparatus 100 while the image data is transmitted
(operation S20), the image begins to print according to the print
start command, and then the transmission of the image data is
resumed.
[0061] At operation S40, the image forming apparatus 100 prints the
received image according to the print option set up at operation
S30. The image forming apparatus may notify the image storage
device of the status of the print job for the current image data,
such as an image data transmission status, a print option
transmission status, a state of progress of printing the received
image data depending on the print option, a print completion
status, an error message, etc. Furthermore, the image forming
apparatus 100 may display the status of the print job.
[0062] Also, the image forming apparatus 100 may ask a user whether
to maintain a connection between the image forming apparatus 100
and the image storage device 200 or to disconnect the image forming
apparatus 100 from the image storage device 200. If a user selects
to disconnect, the image storage device 200 is disconnected from
the image forming apparatus 100.
[0063] As described above, aspects of the present invention provide
an image forming apparatus and an image forming method in which
image data is transmitted before completely setting a print option
of an image corresponding to the image data, thereby reducing a
user's waiting time for printing. Aspects of the present invention
also provide an image forming apparatus and an image forming method
in which a printing state of an image is provided to an image
storage unit.
[0064] Although a few embodiments of the present invention have
been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled
in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without
departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the
scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.
* * * * *